Tariffs Sent China’s Share of October TV Imports Plunging to 27.6%

TV imports to the U.S. became a much more Mexico-centric business in October, the second full month of 15 percent Section 301 List 4A tariff exposure for finished sets from China, according to recently released Census Bureau statistics accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. More than two-thirds of October’s TV unit imports to the U.S. came from Mexico, while China’s share plummeted to half its October 2018 level, DataWeb said.

All countries shipped 4.7 million TVs to the U.S. in October, a 20.9 percent increase sequentially from September, but 28.8 percent fewer than the 6.6 million sets imported in October 2018, DataWeb said. October TV imports from Mexico grew 23.7 percent from September to 3.2 million sets, and were up 23 percent from the 2.6 million units shipped from Mexico in the same month a year earlier.

Mexico’s October share of all TV imports was 67.9 percent, a 1.5 point increase from September, and up a striking 28.5 points from its 39.4 percent October 2018 share, DataWeb said. China, in comparison, was the source of 27.6 percent of October TV imports, down sequentially from September by the same 1.5 points of share that Mexico gained.

October Chinese TV imports rose 13.9 percent sequentially from September to 1.3 million sets, but were down 64.6 percent from the 3.7 million TVs China shipped to the U.S. in October 2018 when its share was 55.6 percent, DataWeb said. China was the source of 39.7 percent of TV imports as recently as August, the last full month before the List 4A tariffs took effect.

With October’s increasing shift to Mexico in the TV supply chain came rising commoditization in TV imports, DataWeb said. The average Mexican set was worth $382.87 in October customs value, down 3.9 percent sequentially from September and representing a 14.4 percent decline from October 2018. Chinese TV imports averaged $173.11 in October customs value, a stunning 56.5 percent sequential decline from September and down 9.4 percent from October 2018.